Missouri residents from across the state gathered to protest artificial intelligence data center development Wednesday in Jefferson City.
The participants gathered near the Katy Trail to listen to speeches, participate in chants and rouse support from passing cars.
The protest was organized by the Missouri Rural Crisis Center, which handed out pamphlets to those heading to a summit of local government leaders assessing AI data center development for their communities. The center's staff say people from 15 Missouri counties attended the rally.
Harry Cope, a livestock farmer from Montgomery County, attended the demonstration. He opposes AI data centers for many reasons.
“It's the electricity, the water … the biggest problem we have is the lack of transparency with our commissioners. It doesn’t look like we’re gonna be able to stop them, but it makes absolutely no sense for trillion-dollar companies to get trillion-dollar tax abatements,” Cope said.
The Local Government Data Center Summit brought government officials together to learn about infrastructure, incentives and legal requirements for AI data centers.
Laura Holloway is the executive director of the Missouri Municipal League, an organization of local governments that participated in the planning conference.
“We want these folks who’ve been elected to serve to have all the information, all sides,” Holloway said.
“There’s a lot of passion and a lot of consideration, and that’s why we’re here today,” she added.
Gov. Mike Kehoe, who has been supportive of AI data centers, did not attend the event but provided opening remarks via video. Recently, both Amazon and Google have begun construction on two AI data centers in Montgomery County.
Supporters of data centers say they increase economic opportunities. Opponents say the environmental risks of data centers are far greater. There are 91 data centers in Missouri, according to datacenter.com.
